Method and computer system for matching mobile device users for business and social networking

ABSTRACT

A business or social networking method is operative in a server. The method enables mobile device users to meet one another, on a permission basis. The determination of whether a given pair of mobile device users are introduced depends on whether the server determines they are in intellectual or “cognitive” proximity, which is typically a function of one or more factors, such as: each user&#39;s reciprocal networking objective, the nature of the industry in which the user works, the user&#39;s level within the management hierarchy of his or her company, any specialty function the individual may possess, and so on. Individuals who are matched in one or more of such attributes to a given degree or threshold are said to be in intellectual proximity. According to the invention, when given mobile devices users are within physical proximity of one another during an overlapping time window, the server determines whether the users are also within a given intellectual proximity. If so, and if both users have opted to receive new introductions, the server issues a mutual collaboration opportunity message to each of the mobile device users to determine whether they desire to be introduced to one another. Preferably, the mutual collaboration opportunity message masks personally identifying information. If the mobile device users agree to be introduced, the server establishes a direct private messaging session between them. In an alternative embodiment, a mobile device user initiates a contact by performing a networking search query that identifies one or more prospects who can then be contacted by the mobile device user asynchronously.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 11/198,126, filed Aug. 6,2005, which application was a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.10/906,194, filed Feb. 8, 2005, which application was based Ser. No.60/543,105, filed Feb. 9, 2004, and Ser. No. 60/582,313, filed Jun. 23,2004.

BACKGROUND

Online and mobile social networking applications are known in the art.These applications are typically operated as managed services byapplication service providers (ASPs) and share several commoncharacteristics. In particular, users typically create unique personalprofiles that include basic information including identity, interests,profession, history, testimonials and information about their network.Users map their relationship with other members, either inviting othermembers to join their network (e.g., Friendster and LinkedIn), or byusing software to scan existing relationships recorded in computercontact software (e.g., Spoke and Visible Path). Typically, connectionsare facilitated by sending messages (instant messages or emails) tofriends who are already known or directly to people that are not knownby the user. Other connections can be made through linking chains ofexisting relationships of people who may or may not be known to theuser.

There are also mobile social networking applications known in the art.Most commonly, these applications provide such functions asfriend-finding, text-dating and community message aggregation.Friend-finder applications (e.g., Dodgeball) announce connections in auser's “relationship map,” which can identify the location of the useror the friend. Such applications may also consult the relationship mapand identify “friends of friends” who have announced they are within acertain range of the user's vicinity. Text-dating applications (e.g.,MobiVibe) allow users to connect with new friends who meet age andgender criteria, enabling users to communicate, e.g., to exchange textmessages. Community message aggregators (e.g., Upoc) distribute messagesfrom one member to all members within a specific community. In anillustrative service, one member identifies a famous person or celebrityand a message about the person or celebrity is communicated to allcommunity members.

Further, it is also known in the prior art to use online business peoplesearch engines to mine public sources of data, for instance theInternet's World Wide Web (WWW), for professional history informationand contact details. The recruitment industry (e.g., Eliyon) typicallyuses such business professional databases to find candidates for jobpositions.

While these applications provide advantages, there remains a need in theart to provide more efficient techniques for enabling mobile deviceusers to identify, locate and contact (e.g., be introduced to)like-minded people. The present invention addresses this need.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A business or social networking method is operative in a server. Themethod enables mobile device users to meet one another, on a permissionbasis. The determination of whether a given pair of mobile device usersare introduced depends on whether the server determines they are inintellectual (or “cognitive”) proximity, which is typically a functionof one or more factors, such as: each user's reciprocal networkingobjective, the nature of the industry in which the user works, theuser's level within the management hierarchy of his or her company, anyspecialty function the individual may possess, and so on. Individualswho are matched in one or more of such attributes to a given degree orthreshold are said to be in intellectual proximity. According to theinvention, when given mobile devices users are within physical proximityof one another during an overlapping time window, the server determineswhether the users are also within a given intellectual proximity. If so,and if both users have opted to receive new introductions, the serverissues a mutual collaboration opportunity message to each of the mobiledevice users to determine whether they desire to be introduced to oneanother. Preferably, the mutual collaboration opportunity message maskspersonally identifying information. If the mobile device users agree tobe introduced, the server establishes a communication (e.g., a directprivate messaging session) between them.

The subject matter herein may be implemented as a computer system thatfacilitates business and/or social networking activities by and amongmobile device users. In one embodiment, mobile device users use a Webbrowser (on a computer, or the device itself) to register online for amanaged business networking service that is provided by a systemoperator, who administers the system and manages introductions betweenregistered mobile device users. In particular, the system operator runsat least one server that programmatically identifies and introducesmobile device users that are in intellectual proximity as reflected byprofile data supplied by the respective mobile device users during theregistration process. The server interfaces to a telecommunicationsnetwork through a gateway, such as a message gateway. As noted above,whether a given pair of registered mobile device users are inintellectual proximity to one another typically depends on severalfactors, such as the individual's personal profile (e.g., industry, peerlevel, job function or specialty, gender, on-line publishedendorsements, endorsements from other members, strength of relationshipwith other users, qualitative evaluation of employer and job title), therelationship of the individual's profile to the profile of the otheruser, and the individual's networking objectives (e.g., employmentsearch, looking to meet industry peers, looking for suppliers, or thelike). When a registered mobile user informs the system that he or sheis available for business networking (which may occur as a result of theonline registration process or dynamically, e.g., through a directrequest to access the service), the server determines whether to make anintroduction by evaluating whether a pair of mobile device users are inintellectual proximity during an overlapping time window. Thisevaluation may also take into consideration the relative locations ofthe mobile device users, which may be determined by the server directlyor through an interface to a location service provider (LSP). In oneembodiment, the server determines whether a pair of mobile users shouldbe introduced by evaluating a given function that trades off a degree ofintellectual proximity and distance. Thus, a given intellectualproximity condition or threshold might be relaxed or strengthened ifprospective mobile users are close to one another (e.g., at the sametrade show); in the alternative, a given distance condition or thresholdmight be relaxed or strengthened depending on the type of intellectualproximity being evaluated. Registered mobile device users who have beendetermined to be in intellectual proximity during an overlapping timewindow are then each sent a message from the server. The message querieswhether the respective mobile device user desires to meet (or beintroduced to) another mobile device user who has been found to beappropriately matched, preferably based on the intellectual proximitydetermination and, optionally, distance and time availability. Anintellectual proximity determination may be approximate. This mutualcollaboration opportunity message preferably masks personallyidentifying information. In an alternative embodiment, paired usersexchange messages directly, without the need for mutual confirmation).If the matched users agree to be introduced, preferably a direct privatemessaging session is facilitated through the server. Preferably, allsuch messaging takes place over SMS or other suitable messaging service.In an alternative embodiment, a mobile device user initiates a contactby performing a networking search query that identifies one or moreprospects, who can then be contacted by the mobile device userasynchronously.

The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent features of theinvention. These features should be construed to be merely illustrative.Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosedinvention in a different manner or by modifying the invention as will bedescribed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates how mobile device users register to use the businessnetworking service of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrates a set of new member registration displaysthrough which an end user creates a user profile for the service;

FIG. 3 illustrates a pair of mobile device users activating the service;and

FIG. 4 illustrates how the service establishes a communication between apair of mobile device users who have agreed to be introduced;

FIGS. 5A-5E illustrate various display screens generated by aclient-side end user device application according to another embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter herein enables mobile device users to engage inbusiness and social networking. The terms “business” and “social” inthis context should not be taken to limit the present invention. Mobiledevice users may have varied objectives and these terms are providedmerely for illustrative purposes. Moreover, as used herein, a “mobiledevice user” should be broadly construed. It includes any wirelessclient device, e.g., a cellphone, pager, a personal digital assistant(PDA, e.g., with GPRS NIC), a mobile computer with a smartphone client,or the like. A typical mobile device is a wireless access protocol(WAP)-enabled device that is capable of sending and receiving data in awireless manner using the wireless application protocol. The wirelessapplication protocol (“WAP”) allows users to access information viawireless devices, such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios,communicators, and the like. WAP supports wireless networks, includingCDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT,DataTAC, and Mobitex, and it operates with many handheld deviceoperating systems, such as PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, andJavaOS. Typically, WAP-enabled devices use graphical displays and canaccess the Internet (or other communication network) on so-called mini-or micro-browsers, which are web browsers with small file sizes that canaccommodate the reduced memory constraints of handheld devices and thelow-bandwidth constraints of a wireless networks. In a representativeembodiment, the mobile device is a cellular telephone that operates overGPRS (General Packet Radio Service), which is a data technology for GSMnetworks. In addition to a conventional voice communication, a givenmobile device can communicate with another such device via manydifferent types of message transfer techniques, including SMS (shortmessage service), enhanced SMS (EMS), multi-media message (MMS), emailWAP, paging, or other known or later-developed wireless data formats. Inan illustrated embodiment, mobile device users use SMS, which is a textmessage service that enables short messages (e.g., generally no morethan 140-160 characters in length) to be sent and transmitted from amobile device.

The present invention is not limited to mobile device users who haveWAP-enabled devices or to use of any particular type of wirelessnetwork. Such devices and networks are merely illustrative; any wirelessdata communication technology now known or hereafter developed may beused in connection with the invention that is now described in moredetail.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention may be implemented as amanaged service (e.g., in an ASP model) using a server 100, which isconnected or connectable to one or more networks. For illustratedpurposes, the server 100 is illustrated as a single machine, but one ofordinary skill will appreciate that this is not a limitation of theinvention. More generally, the service is provided by an operator usinga set of one or more computing-related entities (systems, machines,processes, programs, libraries, functions, or the like) that togetherfacilitate or provide the inventive functionality described below. In atypical implementation, the service comprises a set of one or morecomputers. A representative machine is a network-based server runningcommodity (e.g. Pentium-class) hardware, an operating system (e.g.,Linux, Windows, OS-X, or the like), an application runtime environment(e.g., Java, ASP) and a set of applications or processes (e.g., Javaapplets or servlets, linkable libraries, native code, or the like,depending on platform), that provide the functionality of a given systemor subsystem. The service may be implemented in a standalone server, oracross a distributed set of machines. Typically, a server connects tothe publicly-routable Internet, a corporate intranet, a private network,or any combination thereof, depending on the desired implementationenvironment. As illustrated FIG. 1, the server 100 is also incommunication with a mobile service provider (MSP) 102 through agateway, such as SMS gateway 104.

As also illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more users 106 register for theservice, typically by using a client machine, such as a laptop 107 ordesktop computer 109. In such case, registration is initiated by an enduser opening a Web browser to the operator's Web site registration page(or set of registration pages). Another user 108 is illustrated asregistering using his or her mobile device 111, e.g., through amini-browser or other similar interface. These techniques are merelyrepresentative, as any convenient technique (including, withoutlimitation, email, filling out and mailing forms, and the like) may beused. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, users register with theserver 100 (or set of servers) either through Internet connections frompersonal computers, or via remote registration through a mobile device.

FIGS. 2A through 2C illustrate a set of representative displays for theregistration process. Any convenient GUI may be used, and these displaysmay be combined. The member establishes an account for the service usingthe display panel shown in FIG. 2A. Account information typicallyincludes name, gender, age, email address, wireless telephone carrier,mobile telephone number and zip code. The user's professional profile isestablished using the display panel illustrated in FIG. 2B. By thisdisplay, the member enters his or her job title, company name, industry,peer level and specialty. Once again, these are merely representativedata fields. Dropdown menus provide additional levels of detail asrequired. In FIG. 2C, the member can identify one or more networkingobjectives, such as: meeting an industry peer, a prospective businesspartner, a future employer, a future employee, and so forth. Of course,the identified categories are merely representative. The display mayprovide a text field in which the member can input an additionalcategory. A set of dropdown lists may provide additional options. Themember selects and/or enters one or more of the identified options andto complete the process. Some or all of the data entered in the displaypanels of FIGS. 2A-2C comprises the user's profile data that will bethen used by the business and social networking routines to evaluatewhether the user is in “intellectual proximity” to another user.

Preferably, and as will be described below, once the member hascompleted his or her registration, the server performs an online“background” check, preferably via the World Wide Web (WWW) or otheravailable database or data repository, to determine whether the memberis who he or she purports to be. This basic operation is illustrated inFIG. 1 with the server 100 accessing various Web resources 115 toconfirm the profile data entered by the member.

The present invention facilitates business or social networking amongthe mobile device users who register for the service. The basicoperation is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In particular, the method enablesmobile device users to meet one another, preferably on a permissionbasis. Preferably, the determination of whether given mobile deviceusers are introduced (one to one, or one to many) depends on whether theserver determines that they are in “intellectual” (or “cognitive”)proximity, which is typically a function of one or more factors, suchas: each user's reciprocal networking objective, the nature of theindustry in which the user works, the user's level within the managementhierarchy of his or her company, any specialty function the individualmay possess, and so on. Individuals who are matched in one or more ofsuch attributes to a given degree or threshold are said to be inintellectual proximity. As illustrated in FIG. 3, when given mobiledevices users 302 and 304 are within physical proximity of one anotherduring an overlapping time window, the server 300 determines whether theusers are also within a given intellectual proximity. In FIG. 3, themobile device users have been determined to be in the same locationthrough the use of a location service provider (LSP) 306. In particular,upon receipt of a message activating the service, preferably the serveraccesses the LSP 306 to determine the mobile device user's location. Theserver then determines whether the mobile device users are within adegree of intellectual proximity. If the server 300 determines that theusers 302 and 304 are within an acceptable degree of intellectualproximity, and if both users have opted to receive new introductions,the server 300 issues to each of the mobile device users a givenmessage, which is referred to herein as a “mutual collaborationopportunity” message. The mutual collaboration opportunity” message issent by the server to determine whether the mobile device users desireto be introduced to one another. A mobile device user may accept theinvitation, decline the invitation, or take some other action.Preferably, the mutual collaboration opportunity message maskspersonally identifying information. This preserves user anonymity, otherthan given professional data from the user's profile. If the mobiledevice users agree to be introduced, the server establishes acommunication (e.g., a direct private messaging session) between them.

This process is illustrated in FIG. 4. In particular, the server 300sends messages (such as by SMS) to each of the users 302 and 304, andthat message preferably includes a premium conference call number andPIN code to activate the conference call facility 308. The mobile deviceusers can maintain their privacy but then use the conference call todetermine whether they wish to meet or exchange direct phone numbers.

Thus, according to the present invention, a mobile device user registersfor the service and is then selectively matched with persons that theserver determines might be of interest to the mobile user, typicallybased on the user's professional data and the reciprocal networkingobjectives of the user and other such users. During the registrationprocess, the user is prompted to fill database fields providingprofessional details including, without limitation, job description,employer, industry, management level, specialty function, and the like.The user also outlines the profile of people the user would like to meetthrough the service, including target contact profiles. As has beenillustrated, the user's networking objective is entered or otherwisedetermined. The matching of networking objectives, together withindustry, management stratum and other information, provides aquantitative prediction of the value of two users being introduced,which avoids zero sum interactions.

In an alternative embodiment, the mobile end user need not perform aformal registration. Rather, a mobile end user registers by sending asimple message (e.g., via SMS) including, for example, his or her firstname, last name and company name. The server provisionally registers thenew user and then performs a search of the Web or other accessible datarepository or database, to obtain the end user's professional profiledata. This embodiment enables mobile device users to access and use theservice on an “as-needed” basis. The server parses the received message(which typically includes the mobile device user's phone number),provisionally registers the new user, and then inserts the receivedinformation into search fields of an automated search engine. The searchengine identifies listings on the WWW (or some other database orpre-populated database) that meet the inputs. Further, preferably theserver searches the retrieved listings for keywords, e.g., indicatingjob title, industry and specialty job function, within “n” characters ofthe user's name. This enables the search engine to mine the availabledata for useful information about the user and his professionalbackground, as well as information that may be useful in determining theuser's potential networking objectives. Preferably, the searchalgorithms also navigate the URLs returned to attempt to find additionalinformation about the user. Such information may be quite varied and mayindicate his or her status, social capital, human capital, or otherinterests.

As a user's name often is not unique, an identity verification textmessage may be sent from the server to the provisionally-registered newuser. The user receives the verification text message and optionallyselects the information corresponding to his or her name or otheridentifier. The server discards information for the non-selected optionsand retains provisional registration information based on the selection.If desired, the user in due course is able update his or her profilemore precisely, e.g., using the online registration previouslydescribed.

Thus, according to this alternative embodiment of the invention, theservice is able to match Industry stratum and function of twounregistered uses in real-time, on-demand, as if the remote registeredmember had registered online.

The server has a database, and the computer programs or processestherein preferably operate as a state machine, receiving useractivations, searching for mobile device user matches, and facilitatingintroductions. Preferably, the server interacts with mobile device usersusing a messaging service, such as SMS. Any convenient messagingservice, however, may be used. The basic operation of the server is nowdescribed in more detail.

Although any convenient technique may be used, users preferably activatethe service in the manner that is now described. As used herein, a user“activates” the service to attempt to obtain an introduction to anothermobile device user, typically one that is a given location within anoverlapping time window. Typically, mobile device users are potentiallyintroduced only if they are within a given physical proximity withinoverlapping time windows, i.e., at a given time when such introductionsare possible. A given mobile device user activates the servicepreferably by sending a message from his or her mobile device.Typically, the message is sent to the server's pre-assigned short code,e.g. a five digit mobile device code associated with the businessnetworking service. Preferably, the text message is delivered to an SMSgateway by a mobile carrier; the gateway, in turn, relays the message tothe server. The message body of the text message includes commands thatthen are parsed by the server. The message body may include anactivation command and a duration after which the activation willelapse. If automated location data is not available, the message mayinclude location-related data, such as a zip code, a landmark, anairport code, or other identifier, from which location can be derived.If commands in the message body text do not include specific informationon time active and location, assumptions may be made according to otherinformation preferably recorded at the time of registration. Thus, forexample, the program may default to the user's home location (e.g., aregistration location) and assume that the user is active for “n”minutes.

The server receives a text message and recognizes the device's uniquemobile number, from which the identity of the user is determined (basedon the registration). The server has a database and programs orprocesses therein operate as a state machine, receiving useractivations, searching for matches, and facilitating introductions. Theprogram queries its database and flags data referring to the user'sprofessional profile. In particular, program retrieves from the databaseinformation specifying who the user is as well as the user's targetcontact profiles (i.e., one or more profiles of the types of people theuser would like to meet). Throughout the process, status flags of usersin the database are systematically altered and updated, e.g., to depictthe user's current status, as well as a match session status in relationto other active users. When an activation message is received, theuser's status in the database is changed from inactive to active.

On receiving each user's activation command, preferably data is recordedregistering the time of activation and the location and the duration ofactivation. Location data may be determined automatically, e.g., byreferencing a location service (e.g., a GSM location service provider)that provides the mobile device user's current location such as latitudeand longitude. Alternatively, as noted above, this data may be providedby some other geographic location reference point, such as: zip code,landmark, airport or conference hall identity. It may be provided by anRFID reference, a GPS reference, or any other convenient mechanism orlocating service.

The server identifies active participants. In particular, the servermatches the personal profile of a given first user against the targetcontact profile of a second user, and vice versa. In an illustrativeembodiment, the match is considered mutual and reciprocal if thepersonal profile of the second user matches the target contact profileof the first user and the personal profile of the first user matches thetarget contact profile of the second user. Preferably, program scriptsexecuting in the server calculate a relative quantitative andqualitative value of potential interactions according to how closelyusers match. This provides a degree to which a match is mutual andreciprocal. According to the invention, the determination of whetherusers are matched may be influenced by other factors, such as the user'srelative distance from one another. In this approach, the serverdetermines whether a pair of mobile users should be introduced byevaluating a given function that trades off a degree of intellectualproximity and distance. Thus, a given intellectual proximity conditionor threshold might be relaxed or strengthened if prospective mobileusers are close to one another (e.g., at the same trade show); in thealternative, a given distance condition or threshold might be relaxed orstrengthened depending on the type of intellectual proximity beingevaluated. As noted above, registered mobile device users who have beendetermined to be in intellectual proximity during an overlapping timewindow are then each sent a message from the server. The message querieswhether the respective mobile device user desires to meet (or beintroduced to) another mobile device user who has been found to beappropriately matched, preferably based on the intellectual proximitydetermination and, optionally, distance and time availability.

According to a useful variant of the service, activated users may alsobe alerted to the physical proximity of one or more of another user'scontacts (e.g., co-workers, friends, or the like). In this embodiment,quantitative and qualitative measures may be used to determine thestrength of the relationship and the order in which users areintroduced. Thus, if the server is analyzing whether first and secondmobile device users are in intellectual proximity, it may also determinewhether the first mobile device user is in intellectual proximity to athird mobile device user who is also a contact of the second mobiledevice user. In this example, it is assumed that the server has (or canobtain) access to the second mobile device user's “contact” list. If theserver determines that the first and third users are within intellectualproximity, it may issue a mutual collaboration opportunity message toeach the first and third mobile device users to determine whether theseusers desire to be introduced to one another.

The particular matching algorithm that may be used may be quite varied.In a representative embodiment, the server (typically, one or morecomputer programs or processes executing on a processor) simplycalculates and ranks the relative value for all combinations andpermutations of introductions for all “active” users in the database.Potential introductions are then ranked according to overlap of timewindow availability, distance between users, and intellectual proximity.Preferably, the server regularly recalculates and re-ranks activatedusers, as more users become active or as users deactivate (e.g., throughactive time lapse or through switching the service off).

If a mutual and reciprocal introduction, or an introduction that reachesa pre-determined quality threshold, is available, a “match session” iscreated between two users. The status flag for each user is then changedfrom “activated unmatched” to “activated match proposed.” For eachsession, the time of the proposed match is then recorded. When activatedusers are included in a session, preferably their profiles are no longeravailable to be matched against other users in an “activated unmatchedusers” pool. When the match session is created between user 1 and user2, a message is sent from the service short code (via the messagegateway) alerting user 2 that user 1 is activated and available. Anothermessage is sent to user 1 saying user 2 is activated and available. Thiswas illustrated in FIG. 4. Preferably, a summary of the personal profileof the prospective match is included in the message. In addition,preferably the message also includes other information, such as thedistance between each user, the window of overlapping time, and thelike. This information allows both users to determine if they would liketo communicate directly with one another. Preferably, users are promptedto reply to the short code indicating in their message whether theywould like to communicate directly with one another.

If a user replies confirming that he or she would like to communicatewith the match directly, that user's status in the database is updatedfrom “match proposed” to “match accepted.” If both users mutually replythat the match is accepted, then the status flags change to “matchactive.” During a match session where the status is “match active,” theservice notifies each user that they are now active within the matchsession. Any messages sent back to the server are then relayed to theother user in the match session. In this manner, messages that protectuser privacy are routed through the server to the other user withoutexposing private identification information, e.g., mobile telephonenumber and last name. In addition, preferably the server avoids the useof “identity handles” to create the service functionality. Preferably,messages enable users within a session to further determine if theywould like to give more specific information, such as information thatmight allow them to meet or communicate more directly. At anytime, eachuser is able to break off the session, request a new match, or switchoff the service. If a new match is requested, the match session isclosed, the status is changed to “active unmatched” and the users arereturned to the pool of “active unmatched users.” If a specific periodof time elapses without messages between users in a session, they arenotified and their status is returned to “activated unmatched.” Recordsof active sessions may be maintained to ensure that users who have hadmatches proposed are not re-introduced.

In a preferred embodiment, a matching algorithm determines a quality ofmatch between two candidates as a function of several factors, namely:time availability, reciprocal networking intent, physical proximity,relative management stratum, industry, and specialty function. Timeavailability is a temporal proximity, and this factor may be used exceptwhere a given user wishes to be alerted of a match even when notactivated. Reciprocal networking intent compares each candidate'snetworking objective and attempts to find a match based on thatobjective and the networking objective of a candidate match, e.g., user1 is an employer looking for an employee and user 2 is an employeelooking for an employer. Physical proximity refers to the distancebetween two activated users whose location can be determined, e.g.,through a LSP or otherwise. Management stratum refers to the relativelevel within the management hierarchy of each user. A weighting may beapplied to the management stratum value depending on the size of thecompany. The industry component is determined from a comprehensive listof industries that are categorized into high level generic industries,preferably with submenus that subdivide into more specific categories.The specialty function is the actual job function within anorganization.

Preferably, the matching algorithm further categorizes reciprocalnetworking intent as “specific” or “non-specific.” When a user'snetworking intent objective is specific, then the matching algorithmrequires a more precise correlation between the user's networkingobjective and one or more of the other factors that compriseintellectual proximity. In contrast, when a user's networking intent isnon-specific, the matching algorithm may relax or accept a less precisecorrelation between networking intent and the other factors. Inaddition, where specific and non-specific networking intent can beidentified, the algorithm typically weights one or more of the otherfactors as being of “high,” “medium” and “low” importance. Thisweighting is illustrated below by several examples.

Thus, when an employer is looking for an employee, or vice versa, thereciprocal networking intent is specific and the algorithm weights theadditional factors as follows: physical proximity (high), stratum(high), specialty (high) and industry (medium). When a customer islooking for a supplier, or vice versa, the reciprocal intent is onceagain specific, but the algorithm may weight only the industry andphysical proximity as having high importance, with the other factorsbeing of low importance. An example of non-specific networking intentwould be where an individual simply desires to meet a peer in his or herindustry. In this example, the algorithm weights the factors as follows:physical proximity (high), management stratum (high), and industry(medium) and the other factors of low importance. Another example iswhere a user is looking for a potential business partner, in such casephysical proximity, management stratum and industry are weighted withhigh importance and the other factors are weighted as being of lowimportance. These are merely representative examples. One of ordinaryskill will appreciate that the type of factors and their appropriateweights may be quite varied, depending on the application.

The algorithm continuously executes against a pool of unmatched,activated users. For each user within the pool, the algorithm ranks thatuser against other potential users, calculating a quality of match valueusing the factors and their weights as described above. If the qualityof match value exceeds a given threshold, then the two users are removedfrom the pool of unmatched, activated users and placed into a matchsession, during which they are offered the opportunity to be introducedas has been described. If desired, the given threshold itself may bevaried, e.g., by changing the importance of one or more of the qualityof match factors. As a further variation, the algorithm may alter theinfluence of one or more factors the longer the period of time that auser remains unmatched. More generally, the server may selectively ordynamically alter match session criteria to facilitate instances wheremutual and reciprocal match sessions are not otherwise possible. Byaltering match session criteria in this manner, instances where mutualand reciprocal match sessions that lead to satisfactory interactions canstill be made despite a relative less close “fit” in a pair'sintellectual proximity.

In some circumstances, when an ideal candidate becomes available, othermembers (whether activated or inactivate) can be automatically alertedof their availability. Additionally, if an ideal candidate activateswithin a location adjacent to another member's registered location,special alerts can be sent.

As described above and illustrated in FIG. 4, users may createconference call sessions. Thus, for example, once both individuals haveconfirmed their wish to teleconference, a message with a premiumconference call number is sent to each user's mobile phone together witha PIN code identifying a specific virtual conference room. Each userconnects to the conference call premium call number and is welcomed in avirtual conference call room. Preferably, the identification of theother party is then announced and the facility continues until one partychooses to leave the conference call. In some circumstances, whereparties are registered, the conference call center may call each user toavoid wrong number mistakes. Additionally, it may be desirable toprovide a method to verify that the parties are who they say they are.While this conference call approach is preferred (as it provides adirect private messaging session), the communication can also beundertaken in any convenient alternative manner. Thus, for example, theserver may simply arrange to send information (e.g., by email, by fax,by SMS in-box, or the like) to enable the matched users to communicatein another wireless, wired, or other manner.

As noted above, preferably the server uses robot search algorithms toverify the status and stratum of members who register for the service.These search algorithms automatically review available publishedmaterials on members, e.g., on the World Wide Web or other searchabledatabases. They then verify the identified information against theprofiles. Individuals are categorized to ensure that only homophileindividuals of the same or substantially similar management level areable to be introduced.

The present invention is not limited to a one-to-one introductionbetween mobile device users.

The present invention provides numerous advantages over the prior art.In particular, one advantage over existing Internet-based socialnetworking applications is that a mobile device user is able to meet(preferably face-to-face) a specific high value contact they he or sheseeks, all through the convenience of his or her mobile phone. Arepresentative mobile device user is a business professional who travelsfrequently, a tradeshow attendee, or the like, typically a person whodoes not have ready access to a computer or even the Internet but stilldesire to meet high yield contacts wherever he or she may be during agiven time window of opportunity.

An advantage of the inventive system over existing mobile socialnetworking applications is that the system preferably calculates(automatically) networking symmetry based on a given function ofintellectual proximity, time and location. Preferably, as noted above,the system also verifies user identity by automatically reviewingpublished materials on the World Wide Web (or in any other accessibledatabases or repositories). In addition, preferably the system alsocategorizes users according to other characteristics or attributes suchas contact quality. These methods are used to predict successfulnon-zero sum (win-win) networking introductions.

The present invention provides high performance, scalable networkingfunctionality even where there is no infrastructure readily available.For example, the invention may be used by any organization whose membershave an Internet connection (if needed, for registration) and a mobiledevice. Any organization or entity (commercial, charitable, social,religious, or otherwise) can benefit from the service. Suchorganizations include, without limitation, alumni organizations,conference providers, search and recruitment providers, and many others.The platform may be readily adapted to facilitate introductions fordating, recruitment, alumni, special interest, web blog publishers, andreligious application, among many others. In a given implementation, thepresent invention provides on-line and wireless professional networkinginfrastructure to tradeshow organizers to safely connect attendees toone another at a given event.

One or more functions described above may be implemented in aclient-side application that is downloadable to and executable on amobile user's mobile device. The application may also be installed bythe manufacturer or provider. Such an application enhances the richnessand content of the networking information service, while preservingprivacy and location features. It also enables additional functionality,such as asynchronous messaging, as well as real-time, multimediamessaging. In addition, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention, the end user mobile device includes an application thatfacilitates keyword searching of Internet published information, as willbe described in more detail below.

A mobile device application may be a thin client application, based onJava (J2ME) or Brew, that is downloaded on (or that is otherwiseinstalled as original equipment in) the end user's mobile device. An enduser of the information service also may obtain the application inresponse to receiving an invitation, such as an advertisement, a textmessage, or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the application comprises a home (index) pagethat is similar to on-line user interfaces and includes one or more tabsto a message inbox, profile, address book, target contacts, and a searchfunction. When the user selects the “profile” tab, the profile page inFIG. 5B is opened. This page includes one or more fields in which giveninformation is displayable. These include, for example, first name, homecity, on-line publications and references, job title, present employer,previous employers, and general category terms including industry andmanagement level. When the user selects the “search” tab from the indexpage, a search page such as shown in FIG. 5C is opened. This pageexposes a search engine input form that includes one or more fields,such as: networking intent, industry, management level and keyword.These fields may change as a function of networking intent, which may beselectable from a set of entries in a dropdown list. The keywordreference preferably searches on-line or through given databasepublications for responsive information. The page may also includecontrol buttons or the like to enable the requesting user to sort thesearch results by intellectual proximity, location, time, time sincelast use, or the like. Although not illustrated, the search results pagemay also include a designation of how long a particular prospect hasbeen on-line or off-line.

In particular, according to an illustrative embodiment, upon entry ofgiven information in the search page (in FIG. 5C), a database of users(e.g., registered users, subscribers, or even prospects) may be searchedaccording to one or more of: intellectual proximity, physical proximity,and temporal proximity. In this embodiment, the server receives a searchquery from a requesting end user that has entered a search request intohis or her device (e.g., through the search input form shown in FIG.5C). In this variant, temporal proximity preferably refers to a timesince a user last made a query of the networking server. When the searchis activated, the server database is queried and a set of one or morepotential introductions are extracted based on the search criteria. Theresulting data is formatted and returned to the requesting end user. Atthe end user's mobile device, the search results are formatted anddisplayed, such as illustrated in FIG. 5D. Preferably, the searchresults are presented in order of sort preference giving name, job titleand company (or other identifying affinity), the distance between theuser the networking prospect, and the time since that prospect lastqueried the database.

Once the search results are obtained, the end user may then take a givenaction (e.g., activate a link or initiate another request) to theinformation service to reveal a profile (or a given portion thereof) ofa given potential contact. One such profile is illustrated in FIG. 5E,which is delivered from the networking server to the requesting enduser's mobile device when the requesting user highlights a given profileand selects a View link (in FIG. 5D). In a preferred embodiment, theprofile, however, does not reveal (i.e. masks) personally identifiableinformation. In a representative embodiment, the profile (as illustratedin FIG. 5E) includes given identifying information, such as theprospect's first name, current job title, industry, current employer,physical location and status with respect to the networking service(e.g., “on-line 200 yards”), and the like. After reviewing this list ofprofile(s), the end user (who initiated the search in the firstinstance) may then send a message (SMS, MMS, e-mail, or the like) to thechosen contact, e.g., via the networking server, which then delivers (orhas delivered) the message in the manner previously described. In oneembodiment, the message (requesting a meeting) can be delivered directlyto the prospect's device (e.g., via SMS, MMS, or the like) or, in thealternative, asynchronously to the prospect's in-box. In the lattercase, the potential prospect can then view the invitation at his or herconvenience. The message may be of any convenient form, e.g., it mayinclude a URL to a map identifying a suggested meeting location, or opena page with the map itself.

While the above describes a particular order of operations performed bycertain embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that suchorder is exemplary, as alternative embodiments may perform theoperations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlapcertain operations, or the like. References in the specification to agiven embodiment indicate that the embodiment described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodimentmay not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic.

While the present invention has been described in the context of amethod or process, as noted above, the invention also relates toapparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may bespecially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computer (or multiple computers) selectively activatedor reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such acomputer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium,such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including an opticaldisk, a CD-ROM, and a magnetic-optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), arandom access memory (RAM), a magnetic or optical card, or any type ofmedia suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled toa computer system bus.

While given components of the system have been described separately, oneof ordinary skill will appreciate that some of the functions may becombined or shared in given systems, machines, devices, processes,instructions, program sequences, code portions, and the like.

1. Apparatus for identifying and introducing mobile device users to oneanother, wherein mobile device users have been registered by submittinggiven profile data, comprising: at least one processor; and codeexecutable on the processor (a) for receiving a search query from afirst mobile device user, (b) based on the search query, for identifyinga set of one or more prospects that, with respect to the first mobiledevice user, are, simultaneously, within: a given intellectualproximity, physical proximity, and temporal proximity, (c) fordelivering to the first mobile device user information identifying theset of one or more prospects, the information masking personallyidentifying information, and (d) in response to receipt of a messagefrom the first mobile device user, taking a given action to enable thefirst mobile device user to contact a second mobile device user that hasbeen identified from the set of one or more prospects; wherein thesearch query is received as the first mobile device user is in physicaland temporal proximity to the set of one or more contacts, and adetermination of whether a given prospect is in a given intellectualproximity to the first mobile device user depends at least in part onwhether a networking intent of the first mobile device user, asindicated in the first mobile device user's profile data, has beenidentified by the first mobile device user as being specific ornon-specific.
 2. The apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein the firstand second mobile devices users are determined to be in intellectualproximity if a personal profile of the second mobile device user asreflected in the search query matches a target contact profile of thefirst mobile device user.
 3. The apparatus as described in claim 1wherein temporal proximity is a function of when a given mobile userlast made a given networking query.
 4. The apparatus as described inclaim 1 wherein the given action includes transmitting information tothe first mobile device user and the second mobile device user to enablethe first and second mobile device users to meet.
 5. The apparatus asdescribed in claim 4 wherein the information identifies a physical orvirtual location.
 6. A server for identifying and introducing mobiledevice users to one another, wherein a given mobile device user has beenregistered by submitting given profile data, comprising: a computerreadable storage medium; code located on the computer readable storagemedium and executable on a processor for (a) for receiving a searchquery from a first mobile device user, (b) based on the search query,for identifying a set of one or more prospects that, with respect to thefirst mobile device user, are, simultaneously, within: a givenintellectual proximity, physical proximity, and temporal proximity, (c)for delivering to the first mobile device user information identifyingthe set of one or more prospects, the information masking personallyidentifying information, and (d) in response to receipt of a messagefrom the first mobile device user, taking a given action to enable thefirst mobile device user to contact a second mobile device user that hasbeen identified from the set of one or more prospects; wherein thesearch query is received as the first mobile device user is in physicaland temporal proximity to the set of one or more contacts, and adetermination of whether a given prospect is in a given intellectualproximity to the first mobile device user depends at least in part onwhether a networking intent of the first mobile device user, asindicated in the first mobile device user's profile data, has beenidentified by the first mobile device user as being specific ornon-specific.
 7. The server as described in claim 6 wherein the givenaction includes transmitting information to the first mobile device userand the second mobile device user to enable the first and second mobiledevice users to meet.
 8. The server as described in claim 7 wherein theinformation identifies a physical or virtual location.